It goes round and round

As a 42 year old woman I have come to a point in my life where I (usually) remember that yes, things happen for a reason, people come into and out of your life for a reason and that sometimes, most times, I don't usually understand why at the time but that there probably is a reason and I just need to be patient

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann puts this all in this story. There are actions and consequences, there is the character that always seemed to know his truth, who in the end has to question that truth. There are the innocent and not so innocent bystanders following the life that was laid out for them and those that would like to atone for their sins.

We have this, all of us, in our lives, this window into ourselves. If we take the time to listen we can hear it. This life can be simple or it can be complex but it is ours and it is intertwined with others with a purpose.

I don't like to get into the clear details of these stories I read, you can tell that by the reviews I have written in the past. If you want to know the intimate details of this novel I am sure there are other most complex reviews out there to be found. I recommend this novel and I hope that you can read it with clarity and find your own connection to it and to this world and open your heart to them all.

The Learners, Chip Kidd

I really enjoyed Chip Kidd's The Cheese Monkeys, with that in mind I also really liked The Learners. So many are disdainful of second novels and even worse about sequels (read as if it's a dirty word), but I think it's a little unfair. How can a second novel ever be as exciting or interesting as a first novel? The reader goes into the first with a clean head, no expectations and no real idea how a story will pan out, what types of phrasing or twists the author uses etc. With a second novel some of that is expected whether consciously or not.

With this in mind I wonder how any of us could enjoy this novel as much as The Cheese Monkeys, when the tremendously interesting character of Himillsy plays such a small part. When the character Happy has been better formed by maturity, knowing the things we suspected in the first novel and owning them as such.

I really enjoyed the description of Happy's first position in advertising, having experienced a similar situation in the world of Interior Design, starting as a naive novice, learning about the world at large at the same time as I am learning the true details of my chosen career, the losses and disappointments, the true meaning and pressures of a deadline and presentations.

I hope that others who have read The Cheese Monkeys can open thier minds enough to see the story behind the story in this novel, there is much to be enjoyed and appreciated.